I'm with Happiestmferoutthere. I wouldn't want the ability, either. It might give me an edge in some situations, but think how much more cluttered it'd make the minds of those of us with that ability. Plus I think I'd feel terribly disillusioned if I zoned in on someone's mind and couldn't get a signal at all--or if I just got violently angry chatter or insanity.

If I were going to have some sort of mind-related acquisitive ability, I think I'd like to be able to tap into the intellectual content of certain people's minds and know what they know. Think of how handy that'd be! Musical and artistic knowledge and ability. Intellectual brilliance. Amazing financial insights. It'd also be helpful if, on occasion, I could do the same sort of tap-in on someone else's emotions to get a better understanding of what they're feeling. These would be at-will abilities. That is, I could turn on the ability to tap into intellect or emotional content of another person's mind when I wanted it and keep the ability switched off when I didn't desire it.